Individuals with low credit scores have difficulty financing purchases, such as purchases of automobiles. To the extent such individuals can find companies to finance automobile purchases, many times the financing is through a “buy here, pay here” automobile dealer where the purchaser makes payments directly at the automobile dealer's location. In many cases, the automobile purchased includes an after-market onboard device, installed by the automobile dealer, which enables the dealer to disable the vehicle in the event payments are not made, or not timely made. In some cases, the onboard device has the ability to determine the location of the automobile and send location information to a data center.
Thus, the onboard device of the related-art is a fairly sophisticated device, which includes electronics for: receiving Global Positioning System (GPS) signals; calculating location; communicating with a data center over a wireless communication network (such as cellular telephone network); and disabling the automobile to which the onboard device is affixed. Of course, the functionality drives up the cost per unit, and the communication functionality further carries wireless communication network access charges.
Any advance which reduces the product cost, or reduces operational costs, of the onboard device would provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace.